Six Judges Fired as Sacramento Immigration Court Faces Major Overhaul Under Trump

Sacramento’s immigration court has undergone one of the most dramatic shake-ups in the country, with six of the seven judges serving there at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term fired in the past year.

The overhaul is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape the nation’s immigration courts as it pursues an aggressive deportation agenda less focused on publicized enforcement operations. As of this week, the administration has dismissed about 125 immigration judges out of roughly 700 in place when Trump returned to office.

The changes in the capital region have been particularly striking. Sacramento’s immigration court now has three judges, down from seven in September 2025. That represents one of the largest percentage declines in the nation, according to an NPR analysis earlier this year.

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The administration has focused on other courts with a history or reputation of granting relief at higher rates. After firing the majority of San Francisco’s judges, the DOJ closed the immigration court.

“The approval rate for asylum seems to be a factor,” said Blake Nordahl, the director of the immigration clinic at University of the Pacific’s McGeorge Law School. As of June, the national asylum grant rate had fallen to 5.5% — down from 32% at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term. Jeremiah Johnson, vice president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said asylum rates appear to be one factor, but the dismissals cannot be attributed to a single reason. He, Nordahl and Biggs pointed to other patterns among judges who have been removed including women, those appointed during the Biden administration, judges with backgrounds representing immigrants and people with Hispanic-sounding last names.

“What you’re seeing is this administration and the executive wanting to dismantle the immigration court system,” said Johnson, who was an immigration judge in San Francisco before he was fired last year.

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